While searching Slidell for whoever had abducted several young women at gunpoint in December and ordered them to withdraw money from ATMs, police used tips fielded in neighborhoods and on Crimestoppers' hotline to identify more than 20 potential suspects. Investigators interrogated and examined the backgrounds of all of them, working through Christmas, New Year's, birthdays and anniversaries.

Everyone could be ruled out -- except two.

Jvasezo Twillie, 17, and his brother, Jayquwan Twillie, 19, had been allegedly implicated by a clue to Crimestoppers, information on the street and gathered evidence.

The attacks the Twillie brothers were linked to started on Dec. 13, when two college students were carjacked in the parking lot of the Main Street Center at Gause Boulevard and Interstate 10 and told to drive to an ATM. Once the women retrieved cash from a bank on Gause, they drove the gunman to a secluded spot on Powell Road, where he fled into nearby woods.

Thirteen days later, a woman in her 20s reported she was carjacked in the parking lot of Big Lots at 196 Gause Blvd. West. Her armed assailant demanded that she go to an ATM, but she said she did not have an ATM card. So the man made her drive to a dark, rural site near Powell. He took her purse and ran away, detectives said.

Finally, early New Year's Eve, a man toting a gun approached two women leaving the Cracker Barrel at 790 E. Interstate 10 Service Road and forced them into their car. The women drove to an ATM at Gause and Seventh Street and gave him cash withdrawn from there before dropping him off at the end of Powell, where he hopped out of the vehicle and ran away.

Crimes angered, scared city residents

On each occasion, the robber snatched the victims' cell phones so they couldn't call for help but ultimately returned the devices. He covered his face all three times, twice with a ski mask.

Investigators say they are confident Jvasezo Twillie was either directly responsible for or involved in all three abductions and robberies. He lives on West Hillcrest Drive, and police believe he would get to his home from Powell via an adjacent trail running under Interstate 12.

Jayquwan Twillie resides in Atlanta and allegedly served as the gunman in the last incident during a family visit to Slidell, Smith said.

Video: Slidell Police arrest suspect in triple kidnapping spree Slidell Police Chief Randy Smith on Wednesday, January 11, 2012, announced the arrest of one person and the issuing of a warrant for another for the kidnapping and robbery of five women during three December carjackings in Slidell. Smith said Slidell police arrested J'vasezo Twillie, 17, of 37161 West Hillcrest Dr., near Slidell; and issued an arrest warrant for Twillie's brother, Jayquwan Twillie of Atlanta, Ga.

Detectives booked Jvasezo Twillie with five counts each of aggravated kidnapping and armed robbery, and Jayquwan Twillie is wanted on two counts of those same offenses. Aggravated kidnapping upon conviction is punishable by lifelong imprisonment, and armed robbery sentences are between 10 and 99 years.

Smith on Wednesday acknowledged that the series of crimes angered and scared the populace his department protects, though he noted citizens may rest easier knowing one Twillie is in custody.

"(Residents) should be able to go out and enjoy their quality of life here in Slidell," the chief added. "I don't want (them) to be in fear anymore."

Resources poured into case

Slidell police deployed a two-prong strategy to halt the carjackings and produce the Twillies as suspects. First, they posted undercover officers to watch over intersections, business parking lots and bank ATMs. Cops hid among the trees surrounding Powell and conducted surveillance despite freezing temperatures some shifts. An increased number of marked patrol cars roamed the city.

"There was no place for this guy to hit or flee to," Detective Luke Irwin said.

The department's enhanced presence played a role in stopping the attacks after Dec. 31. However, they also hampered the police's chances of capturing anyone in the act.

Crimestoppers and a local businessman then teamed up to offer a $7,000 reward in the case on Jan. 3. Information subsequently poured in.

Slidell's criminal investigation division spent 8 a.m.-to-2 a.m. days vetting intelligence on the possible suspects and their associates. Led by detectives Daniel Seuzeneau, Michael Deckelman and Irwin as well as their supervisors Capt. Kevin O'Neill and Lt. John Gallaher, the squad labored through nights, weekends, the holiday season and a New Orleans Saints playoff game until a judge signed warrants for the Twillies. The St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's Office and Louisiana probation and parole agents contributed to those efforts.

"Everybody was operating on a couple of hours' sleep a night," remarked Gallaher.

"It took a toll on everyone personally," Seuzeneau said. "These crimes don't (usually) happen in Slidell, but we're not immune to them. ... This tested us."